July-August 2014

Retrospect

by Sean Potter

July 16, 1969: Launch of Apollo 11

When the famed Apollo 11 mission soared off the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on the morning of July 16, 1969, it began the fulfillment of the promise made by President John F. Kennedy nearly a decade earlier. The mission would be the first to land humans safely on the moon, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin exploring the lunar surface, while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins orbited above them.

Contributing Editor Sean Potter is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM), Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM), and science writer with an interest in weather history.